


Who's Your Fave?

by i_amthecosmos



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M, Mal compares herself to others, Mal overthinks things, the VK's become tween stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23257438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_amthecosmos/pseuds/i_amthecosmos
Summary: Mal thinks the best barometer of Auradon fame is who's in the teen magazines. Or, Mal is a teeny bit obsessed with her status in the Auradon version of J-14.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Who's Your Fave?

**Author's Note:**

> Came up with this as something fun to write in the middle of my 3 wips. Three is a lot of wips.

Mal had a lot to do as almost-queen. But she still had the time to check up on her fans. Even the younger ones. 

She had one of the guards bring her the magazine every time it hit the newsstand. He appeared with it with her breakfast, bowed, and left without comment. She looked at the colorful cover, full of airbrushed photos of Auradon tween celebrities. 

**In this issue!** the magazine’s cover screamed. **Uma and the pirates! Jay answers your questions! Science time with Carlos! We have it all in this issue, plus back to school!**

See, even before the breaking of the barrier, teen and tween Auradon had a bit of an obsession with Isle kids. And now, they were the next big thing. Many of the Isle heroes that had stayed in Auradon had some level of fame. Some worked it harder than others. 

Mal flipped the pages to see a fucking wall poster of Harry Hook. “God, don’t encourage his ego,” she muttered under her breath. Harry had taken up rapping full time when he came to Auradon, taking as few classes at Auradon Prep as he could. Mal didn’t think he was very good, but the quality of rapping in Auradon was pretty low, so he seemed like a genius to them. 

There was a poster of Jay too, in his Tourney jersey. They had airbrushed him so he looked perfect. That made her giggle-Jay already looked amazing. She flipped past it, and read over the interview with Jay. He mostly just answered silly questions about his favorite color (“Red”), and other things. Jay had always liked attention, but even he thought the twelve year old fans needed to walk back their adoration of him a bit. 

(“I mean, is this healthy?” Jay had said one day. It took Ben, more than used to this kind of intense focus, to tell him it was part of a young girl’s growing stage to have harmless crushes on far-away boys. He swore it was normal, and Jay calmed down a bit.)

Mal read Carlos’s science column, always enjoying it even when she didn’t understand all of it. Carlos had decided to use his fame to encourage science and rational thought. Mal was so proud of him. She thought it was empowering, good for young people in general even if she didn’t have much to do with it. 

Then she turned the page, and there was Uma, rocking a new pirate hat. _Ugh_. Mal and Uma had made up, of course, but Uma’s fame had eclipsed hers since the Reunification. Uma was tougher, cooler. She was rebellious. Mal had, to her great dismay, become seen as too mainstream.

It didn’t help that Uma was teaching the young girls of Auradon how to rebel, how to think for themselves. She stopped just shy from advocating getting rid of monarchies in favor of democratic government, but it was still worrisome. 

Mal read the interview, and it was about what she expected. Uma talked about how poverty was still a huge problem for Isle residents, and how important it was to let the rulers know what their concerns were. She would put in an occasional plug for her charities or makeup line, but mostly she talked about politics.

Mal decided she might want to have a talk with Uma later, to try to get her to tone it down. She flipped the page. There was Celia, promoting her new single. She was a lot better than Harry, that was for sure. Dizzy had some pictures too, showing off new makeup looks. 

Mal had to look to the back of the magazine to find a picture of herself. It was a bit blurry, but it did have ‘exclusive tips’ from the planning of the royal wedding. Mal figured that was good. She hadn’t disappeared. 

She checked again to find any mention of Evie, but there wasn’t much. Evie was also more mainstream now, her line becoming more acceptable to even the parents of Auradon. Mal and Doug had been telling her that opening a second line of more affordable clothes for younger girls was a good idea, but she was swamped with planning both Mal’s dress and her possible upcoming wedding. (Doug hadn’t asked yet, and Mal was trying to convince Evie to just ask herself. Between the two of them, it might take a while.)

 _It doesn’t take long to be yesterday’s news,_ , Mal thought as she closed the magazine. She knew she wasn’t the only one of her friends and allies who read the teen mags. Harry and Jay had an ongoing contest to see who would have the most posters and articles. Carlos mostly stayed above it, only caring about his column. Uma used it as a platform for her beliefs. And Mal...was busy. 

“You need to stop reading those.” 

Mal jumped, turning to see Ben smiling at her. “Don’t sneak up on me!”

“Sorry.” Ben didn’t look that sorry. “I just want you to know, that’s not much of a barometer of fame. It’s aimed at the young. They kind of have their own standards. I mean, Harry’s music career is only big with them.” 

“Good. Maybe they’ll get sick of him in a year.” Mal immediately felt bad for being petty, and Ben frowned at her. Harry and Ben had a pretty good relationship. Uma was one of his advisers, along with Evie. And since Harry went everywhere that Uma did, Ben saw a lot of all of them.

‘Harry’s very proud of his music,” Ben said, voice gentle. He put his hands on her shoulders and Mal felt some of the tension leave her. “I know you don’t like it, but he’s found a healthy outlet. Personally, I hope he does well for a long time. It’s a good thing for him.” 

“I guess that’s true,” Mal said. All the pirates had been finding things that were nonviolent to cope with being in Auradon. It was a tough adjustment for everyone. 

“You think that you’re unpopular? That you’re not important anymore? Darling, you’re going to be _queen_. That means a lot. Especially to me.” Ben leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “You matter, all right? You matter the most. You don’t need to keep reading those.”

“Well, I want to read Carlos’s column,” Mal said, smiling. “He’s teaching me a few things.” 

“You could probably just ask him, but I see what you mean,” Ben said. “He’s really good at science education. He should be a professor.” Ben straightened back up. “Well, I’ve got meetings. I think you have one too, about the wedding planning, and lunch with your dad. And I’ll go over the meeting with you before dinner. See you then?” 

“See you then,” Mal said. “Love you Ben.” She was still getting used to saying it casually. 

Ben smiled at her, his eyes crinkling. “Love you too Mal.” Then he was gone. 

Mal took the magazine and set it aside. She got ready for her meeting with Evie and Jane to plan her wedding. Ben was right. She shouldn’t worry so much about fame. She had a kingdom to run. 

_I kind of wish things were simpler, sometimes_ , she thought. Then she remembered the Isle, how every day was a struggle for survival, and she should be glad that her worries were a wedding dress and how popular her friends were. 

Then she looked at herself in the mirror, made a face, and left.


End file.
